NEW DELHI: Ayodhya Ram Temple Trust treasurer Swami Govind Dev Giri on Tuesday refuted reports claiming that he had resigned from his post amid the ongoing row over the alleged embezzlement of donations.Giri said, “Here in Pune, where I am sitting today, there is just a one-room house with a kitchen, and not even a single brick of it is in my name.””The reports claiming that I have resigned are false. I have not submitted my resignation. Yesterday, reports were being circulated everywhere that I was going to resign as Treasurer. I never said anything of that sort, nor is there any such thought in my mind. I am a follower of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj; I do not abandon the field,” he added.On Champat Rai’s resignation as general secretary of the Trust, Giri said Rai resigned voluntarily after realising that he had acted negligently. He said it would be wrong to say that Rai was made a scapegoat, as no one pressured him to resign.“Champat Rai resigned voluntarily. It would not be correct to say that he was made a scapegoat. But he acted negligently. He himself realised this, and therefore resigned of his own free will. No one pressured him to resign.”“I am satisfied with the SIT investigation. I am not exerting any influence on anyone. We are not trying to influence the investigation in any way, and why would we? This crime has been committed against Lord Ram. Such evil-minded people must be punished,” he added.Giri also said that theft from the donation is likely to be around Rs 3 crore and reports that gold silver and other valuables worth Rs 14 crore were stolen are “completely false.””I can give a rough estimate that the theft is likely to be around Rs 3 crore… The reports that gold, silver and other valuables worth Rs 14 crore were stolen are completely false,” he said.Earlier on Monday, an Ayodhya court extended the judicial custody of all eight accused in the alleged Ram Mandir donation embezzlement case by another 14 days. The accused appeared before the court through video conferencing and are scheduled to appear again on July 27.So far, police have interrogated four other accused — Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey — during their police custody remand.According to sources, the investigating officer, Ashutosh Tiwari, submitted evidence and documents collected during the remand period of three accused before Ayodhya’s Anti-Corruption Court.The Supreme Court on Monday also issued notices to the Centre, the Uttar Pradesh government and the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, seeking responses to petitions seeking an independent, court-monitored probe into the alleged misappropriation of donations at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya.An Ayodhya court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday the police remand plea of Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav and retired bank employee Subhash Srivastava, who were arrested in connection with the alleged embezzlement of donations meant for the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple.
